ACADEMICS at a Yorkshire university have spent 1,000 hours working their way through 700 sandwiches to develop a formula for the perfect bacon buttie.
The research carried out by scientists at Leeds University was unveiled as a new survey showed more bacon sandwiches were eaten in Yorkshire than anywhere else in the country.
The project measured everything from the crunchiness of bacon in decibe
ls to the force required to chew through a sandwich.
During the research a panel of testers tucked into bacon butties
which had been grilled, microwaved and fried with different types of oil such as sunflower, olive and vegetable.
They also tried out a variety of different types of bacon such as unsmoked streaky and thick cut to develop the formula N=C + (fb(cm). fb(tc)) + fb(Ts) + fc. ta – which they say details the exact conditions needed to create the ideal bacon buttie.
Dr Graham Clayton, who led the research team at the university's Procter Department of Food Science, said: "We often think that it's the taste and smell of bacon that consumers find most attractive.
"But our research proves that texture and sound is just, if not more, important. While there was much debate within our taste
panels on the smoked or unsmoked decision, everyone agreed that tough or chewy bacon is a turn-off.
"So, if you want to cook the perfect bacon buttie at home, our recommendation is to choose thinly sliced bacon with just enough fat, grilled in a hot oven and served with dollops of your favourite sauce."
The research was sponsored by Danish Bacon, which has also published a survey claiming that 67 bacon butties are eaten by the average Yorkshire household every year compared with the national average of 50.
Lancashire finished second with 57 per year followed by the Midlands, where 56 bacon butties are eaten a year.
THE FORMULA
N = C + (fb(cm) . fb(tc)) + fb(Ts) + fc . ta
Where:
N = force in Newtons required to break the cooked bacon
fb = function of the bacon type
fc = function of the condiment / filling effect
Ts = serving temperature
tc = cooking time
ta = time or duration of application of condiment / filling
cm = cooking method
C = Newtons required to break uncooked bacon
